Blogs are often nothing more than the voice of the fans. I am not sure most people that blog are obsessed with readership as much as they simply hope they have something interesting to say. Blogging is equal parts reflection, analysis, and opinion which often makes for an intriguing read. Yet as a fan I hear many different points of view, many of whom who don’t have a blog of their own.
Much like pundits you hear on the radio or on ESPN / TSN or Fox Sports Net / Rogers’ Sportsnet what do fans have to say? That’s why I decided to give them this kind of open mic to air their thoughts, frustrations and since 2009 I’ve been surveying fans I know. I hope it has been an enjoyable read and I’m immensely grateful of the time and energy these fans have shared with me. Here are the previous two parts.
Wild Fans Speak 2018-19: Part 1 of 3
Wild Fans Speak 2018-19: Part 2 of 3
Perhaps a tiny bit inspired by Wild owner Craig Leipold to get a ‘fresh set of eyes’ on this team, I’ve contacted a friend who is not a Minnesota Wild fan to see how his views of our team are similar or different to die hard fans I know as well as 5 Wild fans. I asked each of them 6 questions pertaining to the Minnesota Wild’s 2018-19 season. I’ve asked that each fan introduce themselves so you know a little bit about their background before you start reading their responses to the questions. Here is our panel for the 2018-19 version of Wild Fans Speak!
Ricky (@Van_city_Nucks) ~ Hey guys, I’m Ricky Sangha. I’m a born and raised Vancouverite, who is a diehard Canucks fan and hockey fan in general. I first started watching hockey as a 9 year old and fell in love with the game right away. I currently own Vancouver Canucks quarter season tickets, and I always look forward to every trip to the rink!
Bruce (@LangeB1) ~ I am a former ‘Team of 18,000’ member who gave up my tickets after the Wild became the only team that didn’t lower ticket prices after the 2004-05 Lockout. I live in Forest Lake, MN and tend to be more critical of the team than I probably should be.
Jodi (@jodi_halvy) ~ I am an avid hockey fan, and enjoy watching just about any level of hockey. I am most passionate about the Minnesota Wild and have been a season ticket holder, along with my dad, for about 10 years now. I have three specific Minnesota Wild hockey wishes, not that anyone asked. My first wish is to see the Minnesota Wild win the Stanley Cup. My second wish is to see Kirill Kaprizov wearing a Minnesota Wild jersey. And my third wish is that Charlie Coyle become the player he should become.
Aaron (@AngryFinn) ~ He is a lifelong hockey fan going back to the days of the Minnesota North Stars. Aaron is also a founding member of 3 in the Box, the longest running underground Wild podcast.
Tim (@Timnado) ~ When he’s not tweeting about the trials and tribulations of his beloved Wild, he’s probably playing a video game or working on his Perfect Strangers fan fiction. A tasty, local malted beverage is always within reach, and he has firmly embraced the #DadJoke phase of his life.
Brian ~ I’m Brian Felska and have been a long time hockey fan at all levels. Growing up in outstate Minnesota in the 50’s and 60’s where it was tough to participate in hockey as a school sport. The only school teams were in the metropolitan area or in northern Minnesota. We did spend a lot of time at the rink skating, shooting, and playing pickup games. We had very little formal coaching but did have rec. teams from junior high on. Seasonal high school sports took the spotlight but I did manage to play some hockey in my senior high years. When I was in college the St. Cloud State program was in its infancy just switching from club to a varsity sport. Even then the players shoveled their own rinks. I was lucky enough to coach some peewee teams before starting a family. I have always enjoyed the speed and physically of sports so hockey was I game I loved.
5. Injuries seem to be a bigger issue regarding Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. How important is it to the team to have them both healthy and productive? Would the team still be a perennial playoff contender without one or both of them? What odds do you give for either player staying healthy for 75% to 100% of the 2018-19 season?
Ricky ~ No question about it, the Minnesota Wild cannot afford to lose Ryan Suter or Zach Parise to injury for a lengthy period of time. In my opinion, those are the two of the most important and relied upon players on the Wild roster. As a Canucks fan, whenever I see those two on the ice against my team, I see instantly how important they are to Minnesota. If you take both Suter and Parise off the roster that will spell big problems for Minnesota as I don’t think the depth is there to defend and replace the points that Zach puts up, and they definitely would not be a perennial playoff contender without them. I believe Ryan Suter will have another great season in regards to health, he hasn’t missed much hockey the last 7 years, playing 77 or more games each of those seasons. Zach Parise unfortunately suffered a broken sternum in the playoffs and had a timeline of 6-8 weeks for recovery, so he may be a question mark depending on his pain tolerance and if the injury nags him going into this season. My prediction is both Ryan Suter and Zach Parise will not much action next season, I’ll give both of them 90% odds.
Bruce ~ I think it’s incredibly important to have both of them healthy. The Wild have no one in the pipeline that can replace what these two players bring to the ice. Of the two, it’s more important to have Suter healthy, since the Wild have no one on defense that can replace his minutes, offense and experience. Parise has missed on average 20% of the games in each season since he’s signed with the Wild. To keep making it to the Playoffs, I think Suter is more important than Parise. Look at the Playoffs last season. Suter goes down and even though Parise was still on the ice for the first three games, the Wild lost all of them. Odds for them staying healthy? Parise will get hurt this season. Guaranteed. And I think Suter rushed his recovery, so there is a definite possibility he gets re-injured. I don’t think either player plays a full season.
Jodi ~ I think we found out last year just how valuable Ryan Suter is to this team, he is the backbone of this defense. I do not agree with the excessive ice time he gets, especially on the power play, but we are a better team with him, than without him. I think the same holds true for Parise, I do think the Wild are better with him, as long as he understands and accepts that he might not be a top 6 guy anymore. If he can stay healthy, no one works harder, no one grinds better in front of the net, and he is a winner. I think the way he plays brings an energy that not a lot of other guys bring. He has grit and tenacity, and he raises the play of everyone else around him. His playing style makes it less likely that he is able to avoid injury as he ages, but the Wild are still better with a healthy Zach Parise, than without. I’ll go out on a limb and say they both stay healthy all season in 2018-2019!
Aaron ~ So much of the salary is tied up with them to the point that they really need to be healthy otherwise they’ve eliminated a bunch of the flexibility of the front office. While Parise is getting first line money for second line performance, Suter’s ice time can’t be so easily discounted. Regardless, I put Suter’s odds at like 1:2 and Parise’s at like 2:1
Tim ~ Unfortunately, the Wild relies on these two players quite a bit. I can’t see any sustained excellence from the team if either player were to miss much time in 2018-2019. Thinking about the Law of Averages, I project that both Zach and Ryan will be in the lineup for at least 75% of the season. Each have endured significant surgical procedures within the last year. Barring a freak injury, I would guess that both will be available for the majority of the year. However, I do think it would be smart of Boudreau to give them the occasional “Veteran’s Day Off” to maximize their season-long output. Let’s not kid ourselves – they aren’t getting any younger!
Brian ~ When these players are healthy they still are just one step below the leagues 10 best. When Ryan Suter went out at the end of the season you could see how the offense struggled to get into a flow. His ability to get the puck out of the defensive end is crucial to this offense. Once Zach fully recovered from injury he was back to checking in the offensive end, planting himself in front of the net, and scoring. The only way this team has a chance to be a cup contender is if these two players stay healthy. But to change this chance to a good chance our next level of players need to have very good consistent years. No more staying away from the net, no more swings in play, no more no shows in the playoffs, and no more night offs. Niederreiter and Coyle need to be physical at both ends. Dumba, Spurgeon, and Brodin need to get more involved in the offense while still covering their defensive responsibilities. Staal, Zucker, Granlund, and even Koivu need to earn their salaries offensively. These players are all being compensated at high levels and need to meet the expectations that go with those types of salaries.
6. How do you see the Wild finishing in 2018-19? If the team makes the playoffs who or what stepped up to make it happen and if they didn’t what worked against them? What is one crazy / off the wall prediction for the team for next year?
Ricky ~ In 2018-2019, I see the Minnesota Wild making the playoffs for a 7th straight season, lets say the 1st wild card spot of 3rd in the division. Why? When I look up and down their roster of forwards I like the makeup of their top 9, I think there is depth there, and and players capable of chipping in when some of the top guys are having a rough week or two. The guy’s I’m thinking of are guys like Matt Read, Marcus Foligno, J.T Brown and Joel Eriksson Ek. I’m gonna also add in goal, Devan Dubnyk is a good goaltender, I’ve liked how he has progressed recently. I don’t really have any crazy off the wall predictions for the Minnesota Wild this year, once again I believe they are a playoff team, but in that tough Central Division, you have to wonder if it’ll be deja vu all over again for the Wild, with the likes of the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators ready to make another run at the Stanley Cup.
Bruce ~ I think the Wild will finish with a decent record, around 100 points, providing they stay relatively healthy. As far as making the Playoffs, they made the Playoffs last season without the services of Parise, Coyle and Niederreiter for much of the season. So, if they stay healthy, they should easily make the Playoffs. But I think the real question is can they perform in the Playoffs? This is pretty much the same team for the last three seasons, and when they get into the Playoffs they collapse like a house of cards. I think they should make the Playoffs, unless a key player goes out for a significant amount of time (like Dubnyk), or other teams in the division that made moves to improve pass them in the standings. Crazy off the wall prediction: Jordan Greenway wins the Calder. As far as this team being a legit Stanley Cup contender? Nope. They are a nice team, but as a whole this team lacks that killer instinct to put teams away when they have the chance. Too many times the Wild will have a team on the ropes only to let them right back into the game. They also lack the mental fortitude to overcome obstacles like “the hot goaltender” or “da bounces.” When things don’t go their way, they seem to throw up their hands and say “Oh, well. There’s always next year.” But to me most importantly, there is no go-to player on this team that will pick it up and carry it across the finish line by himself. They need a Kirby Puckett on skates.
Jodi ~ For the Minnesota Wild to make the playoffs they need a similar season from Jason Zucker, and consistency from Eric Staal and Devan Dubnyk, and they need Granlund, Coyle and Nino to all take a significant step forward. You need 20 goals from Nino and Coyle this year, otherwise I think it is another disappointing year for them. They are also going to need Eriksson Ek to take a big step forward, Nick Seeler to take a big step forward, and another rookie to surprise them, whether that’s Sokolov, Kunin or Greenway. Dumba has to score on the power play, and Jason Zucker needs to be a regular member of the power play. If the Wild can stay healthy, and get expected production from each player they make the playoffs. If they fight injuries all year, and key guys underperform again, they will miss the playoffs. Every other team in the western conference has gotten better, it is going to be really difficult to make it in to that top 8.
Aaron ~ Unfortunately I don’t think that they’ve done anything worthwhile. They’ll pick up some wins with healthy 11 and 20, but I don’t think that is enough. I predict another 1st round exit. My off the wall prediction is that Charlie Coyle gets traded at the deadline.
Tim ~ I predict that the Wild will continue their streak of making the playoffs, although it will again come down to the wire. The team is paced by Granlund, who hits the 80pt mark, but falls just short of the 83pts put up by Gaborik in 07-08. The team once again advances to the second round of the playoffs, but that is the apex, as the team doesn’t warrant true Cup contender status.
Brian ~ The scenario is basically the same as the last few years. Aside from staying healthy, the most important thing this team needs to do is to play up to the expectations that their salaries require! If that happens then the Wild will be legitimate Cup contenders. Personally, until I see it, I won’t believe it.
Well that does it! On behalf of Crease And Assist: A legally compliant Minnesota hockey blog, I’d like to sincerely thank our panel: Ricky, Bruce, Jodi, Aaron, Tim and Brian for participating in the survey!
We hope you appreciate hearing the fan’s perspective of the team. However, let’s make this interactive. Want to answer the questions yourself? Tell on Twitter @CreaseAndAssist or in the comment section below!
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